Pentad of Un

Chapter 15 - Luss

     Luss had lied about the sword he'd given Adif.

     He knew exactly where he had gotten it.

     The sword was of a common design of blade in Asbvaj, being curved and wider at the blade's end—but it wasn't of common craftsmanship whatsoever.

     Luss knew where he'd obtained the sword, but at first he'd had no idea where it had come from. It was true that he'd gotten it in exchange for blood—nixie blood—but the blade's origin was unknown to him.

     He'd carried the sword with him for years, unsure what to do with it. He had no interest in learning to use it, but it felt wrong to abandon it somewhere or give it to a stranger.

     Giving it to Adif felt right.

     Taking the silver bits made Luss feel guilty, but he tried to tell himself that he was just doing normal business as a merchant. The customer had paid for the purchase, and now he had a lot more jag to worry about.

     "Should we stop for the night?" Kestek tentatively asked once the sun started to set.

     "There's a town not far ahead," Shayrow pointed out, gesturing down the road. "We could stay at an inn there."

     "Let's do that," Kestek said. "I mean, we should do that, right?"

     Everyone gave vague signs of agreement.

     Luss didn't like inns, but he bobbed his head so as to not start an argument. The concept of sleeping in a building with so many strangers wasn't his idea of a comforting experience.

     "Maybe we can hitch a ride with someone in the town that's traveling towards Asbvaj," Kestek suggested. "That would speed things up."

     "Depends on the method of transportation," Luss pointed out.

     Kestek gave him a dirty look, so he didn't bother elaborating.

     They made it to the town before the sun had completely vanished, and luckily the inn was still serving supper in the tavern.

     "Are you sure we have the jag for this?" Shayrow whispered as they sat down at a table.

     Luss couldn't help but wonder the same thing.

     The inn wasn't some old run-down place for ragtag travelers to rest at. The floors were polished; there were witch's lanterns filling the rooms with warm, cheerful glows; and there appeared to be pipes that brought running water straight into the building, which Luss had never seen outside of The Academy.

     "Plenty," Adif assured him. "I've got us covered."

     "If you say so..." Shayrow reluctantly started examining the food options that were listed on the wall.

     Luss decided to take the opportunity to indulge a little. He didn't get anything particularly expensive, as that would have been low—even for him—while Adif was offering to pay, but he did end up with a lot of food.

     "So disgusting," Kestek muttered under her breath, looking anywhere but at Luss. "Humans...!"

     After they ate, the group got up to see if their room was ready. They'd only asked for one room, but the innkeeper told them that them all being in one room would violate the inn's rules of capacity, so they would have to use two rooms.

     The group was led up the stairs and to the rooms, which were right next to each other and joined by a doorway that was unlocked for their use.

     And then they were left to themselves.